Air fares to go down as fuel surcharge drops

MANILA, Philippines — Airlines dealing with inflationary threats look forward to starting 2023 on a high note, as air fares are set to go down in January with fuel surcharge trimmed yet again.

Low-cost carriers Cebu Pacific and AirAsia Philippines yesterday confirmed that they will reduce their ticket prices in January in line with the directive of the Civil Aeronautics Board (CAB).

Cebu Pacific chief commercial officer Xander Lao said the Gokongwei-led airline would bring down its air fares in January in the hopes of sustaining the demand for air travel.

“This decrease in fuel surcharge for January is a welcome development, especially as we see a continuous increase in passenger traffic and forward bookings. We’re excited to offer even lower  fares for every Juan,” Lao said in a text message.

Further, AirAsia Philippines spokesman Carlo Carongoy said airlines benefit from the downward trend in fuel surcharge. As they face inflationary risks here and abroad, they try to minimize their losses by spreading their costs, which only happens when travelers book flights.

“The Civil Aeronautics Board’s decision to adjust the fuel surcharge at Level 7 this January is a welcome development for both AirAsia Philippines’ guests and the airline itself,” Carongoy said in a text message.

“This initiative helps all airline companies cushion the impact of the volatile fuel pricing and the weakening value of the peso versus the US dollar,” he said.

Carongoy said AirAsia Philippines has seen an increase in passenger bookings this year fueled by what the tourism industry calls as revenge travel, wherein Filipinos complete the adventures they failed to do due to pandemic restrictions.

Flag carrier Philippine Airlines (PAL), for its part, plans to maximize the downward trend in fuel surcharge to promote the routes that it reopened. PAL spokesman Cielo Villaluna said travelers could use the decrease in ticket prices to explore new routes introduced by PAL.

“The lowering of the fuel surcharge level is coming at a time when we are expanding our flight route network, mounting new flights and restoring our flight capacity to pre-pandemic levels. We have restored flights between Cebu and Bangkok, and opened Cebu to Baguio and to Cotabato (routes),” Villaluna said in a text message.

In an advisory, CAB said that it trimmed the fuel surcharge to Level 7 for January from Level 8 this December, meaning airlines can impose a fuel surcharge of P219 to P739 for domestic trips and P722.71 to P5,373.69 for foreign flights.

Fuel surcharge refers to the optional fee that airlines can pass on to customers to recover their fuel expenses caused by sudden spikes in jet fuel prices.